Mattie's Call (27 page)

“Normal things along with wads of money attached with paperclips.”

“That's Mama,” they said in unison.

“Have you told anyone it's her?” he asked.

She thought of Mattie's response to Brenda Heist. “No. Authorities and the media would have a field day. She deserves a chance to explain herself.”

“We'll be there as fast as we can.”

43

G
abrielle and Joshua took turns driving to Helen. Alice's shaky hands and teary state forced her in the backseat. Her whininess wasn't helping the situation.

“How many times have I watched people disappear on television and criticize them when they return?” Gabrielle asked.

“No one knew who she was by looking at her? That Mattie's Call went out everywhere.”

“Josh, forget about the Mattie's Call. Our mother has been alive all these months and didn't say anything. Anything!” Alice hugged herself in the backseat. She vacillated between anger and relief. She'd have another chance to show her mother how much she loved her, but how much did their mom care about them?

“We can't take a dead woman back to Savannah. What would people say if we show back up with her after all this time?” Gabrielle gave Joshua a quick glance before refocusing on the highway.

“Gigi, Durk will have to help us spin the story. I can't imagine all the legal ramifications of this. How did she get all the way to Helen anyway?” Joshua's phone rang again.

“Joshua, this is Ursula. The doctors have given your mother a mild sedative for the leg pain. They said she'll be out for a while and she has no idea you all are on the way. I'll need a ride home since I came in the ambulance with her. I also need to go back to her cabin to get a few things. Can you pick me up?”

“Did you say her cabin?”

“Yes, she has a cabin. I feel stupid repeating things she's told me, but she said it's been in the family for years.”

“What's the address?”

“Fourteen Randall Road. Our cabins are the only three back there. Habersham is in Demorest. I'll be in the emergency room area waiting for you.”

Joshua fell silent. He cracked his knuckles and stared out the window.

Alice scooted forward in the backseat. “What did she say? You're acting like Mama's dead.” Alice covered her mouth with her hands when she realized what she'd said.

“Not dead, Alice. More like a complete stranger. She kept Langston a secret all those years; now this Ursula woman is saying she has a cabin.”

Gabrielle weaved slightly. “You're telling me our parents had a cabin and made us camp out in the woods during the summers?”

“There's no telling what else we don't know about her. Or them.” Alice removed a pillbox from her purse. She guzzled water from the gallon jug she always carried after popping two Tylenol. “I'm so nervous I can't talk anymore. Wake me up when we get to the hospital.”

They arrived at Habersham faster than expected. Gabrielle parked after dropping off Joshua and Alice near the emergency room. The three of them walked inside as Ursula waved them over. Since there was safety in numbers, they'd do what was necessary if the call proved to be a hoax. Three outnumbered one.

Her uncertain steps made the meet-up slower. She scanned the lobby area as if others were waiting to hear her secret. She brought a shaky hand to her forehead. “I'm Ursula. I'm sorry to bring you out this way. I didn't know what else to do.”

Joshua became the family spokesperson. “With all due respect, we need to see our mother first. We've been harassed by people with false sightings.”

“I understand completely. She's been admitted to a room on the first floor. Follow me. Visiting hours are over, but I told them her children would be here to visit. They know her as Maude Benefield, so let's keep it going.”

They took the stairs instead of the elevator, each wanting to believe they had the chance to make amends with their mom.

“What do we say?” Alice asked.

“Nothing. She's out for at least six hours. Get a look at her and let's go. I want her to be awake when she sees you,” said Ursula. She opened the door and waited for the nurse to finish adjusting the IV.

The nurse faced them as they stood alongside the bed.

“Nurse, these are Mrs. Benefield's children. We know we can't stay, but they wanted to see her.”

“That's fine. I'm so happy you're here. She was crying earlier over her leg pain and saying she wished her children could help her.”

Alice leaned on Joshua's shoulders and sobbed lightly. Gabrielle held their baby sister's hand.

“We have to make this thing right with Mama.”

“We will, Alice. I promise you we will,” he said.

44

“T
his is hard to process,” said Gabrielle.

“Gigi, you're the oldest. You had no idea this place existed?” Alice asked.

Ursula left them alone in the cabin with the promise they'd meet up in an hour. The cabin, neat and homey, was welcoming and decorated similar to their childhood home. Although she had no family photos in the living room, they found a treasure trove of items in her bedroom closet, underneath the bed, and in her chest of drawers.

“Look at this,” said Gabrielle.

She showed her siblings a photo of Daniel and Mattie standing outside the cabin. They were hugged up, younger, vibrant eyes shining. She flipped it over and read,
“We did it, Baby. This is for me and you only. Our escape.”

Joshua stared at his father. “He never stopped loving her and wanting to please her. I could never live up to that in a relationship.”

“You're supposed to have your own relationship. Theirs was a good model, but you have to create your own marriage,” said Alice.

Gigi found more photos. “Where were we when they came here?”

“They were really young on these pictures, so I'm guessing we weren't born. In their later years, they probably came here when we stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.” Joshua handed the photo back to Gabrielle and opened a bottom drawer of the heavy chifforobe. Letters with the name “Boris Camden, PI,” in the return address caught his attention. He removed them and informed his sisters, “I'm going to the living room. Be back in a few.”

He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and read the letters that had been opened. Pangs of guilt hit him when he thought back to his mother pleading with him to start the rotation again. He'd put his plan in motion for her to move in, but he'd been too slow. A light tap on the front door interrupted him. “Come in.”

Ursula walked in with a reusable shopping bag and sat across from him. “Are you all ready to go back to the hospital? I brought a few things I know she enjoys. We took turns with crossword puzzles. She'd do the top half; I'd complete the bottom.” She held up a large print puzzle book.

“She did the same thing with my father.” He wrapped the bow around the letters again. “How did you get to know my mother?”

“I saw her coming and going and figured she needed assistance. She was shrouded in those dark shades and running inside before I could get her attention. She was determined to keep to herself, but we're isolated back here. Neighbors should get to know each other.”

“Thank you for looking out for her.”

“She always said she was alone in the world, but I didn't believe her. The way she nurtured her plants and cared for her home was an indicator of motherly love. I wished she'd opened up to me.”

“You would've turned her in.”

“No I wouldn't. I would find any living relatives she had. I knew something was going on because she could be jittery at times.”

Alice and Gabrielle joined them in the living room.

“Mama has a safe with money and jewelry in there, Josh,” said Alice. “She kept the combination in back of it.”

“And she has concert stubs, playbills, all kinds of entertainment mementos.” Gabrielle held up stubs from a 1972 Bill Withers concert.

“It's like our parents lived a whole other life,” said Josh.

“Keeps the spice going,” said Ursula. She eyed her watch. “Let's get back to the hospital. This reunion has been long overdue.”

45

M
attie's chest rose and fell. The potent sedative made it hard to open her eyes. The hospital bed was no match for her soft mattress; she had to get up and go back to the cabin. She tried turning on her side when familiar voices called out to her, “Be careful, Mama.”

She shook off the sound. “Can't be.” Her left eye sprang open. She scanned the room and pulled the covers closer at the sight of her children. “What are you all doing here?”

They'd made a pact to stay calm and let her explain herself.

“Ms. Ursula called us, Mama,” said Joshua. “I can't imagine a mother of mine being alive and not reaching out to me or us.”

“Believe it.” Mattie's eyes were open now. She turned away from them and looked out the window.

Gabrielle swallowed hard. “You were disoriented and got lost? Right, Mama. You didn't know what to do, stayed away because you were afraid?”

Her attention stayed focused on the birds outside the window as she spoke. “Thanks a lot, Ursula. I'm sure you're responsible for this mess.” Her sarcastic tone bristled them.

“Would you rather I had called the authorities,
Mattie?”

“The police care more for me than my own children.”

“Mama, you know that's not true,” said Alice. She reached for her mother's hands, but Mattie folded them as if in funeral repose.

She turned her eyes on them and glared. “It took the three of you thinking I was dead to be in the same place at one time. When I was still alive, how often did you see about me?”

Their silence was her answer.

“All those times I asked you to come to Grand Oak to visit, you were always so busy. Alice, you were locked up with that bossy husband of yours. Gigi, I don't want to talk about whose husband you were with because I never knew, and Joshua, your job may as well have been your wife.”

Joshua turned to Ursula. “May we have a moment alone?” She left the room and Joshua began his tirade. “We may not have been the best at taking care of your needs, but at least we didn't keep a million secrets. You kept my son from me!”

“Don't raise your voice at me! Deborah asked me not to tell and I didn't. A woman has a right to choose if she doesn't want a man in her child's life. Even if that man is a biological father.”

“But you got to know him in secret. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

“Don't you know him now?”

“That's not the point.”

“Seems my leaving made a lot of good things come to pass, so that is the point.”

“Mama, I'm going to pretend you aren't saying you left on purpose.”